VM1138

Everyone here is focused on the angle that they were somehow attacking the announcers or ruining Leafs nation. No one here raised an eyebrow that they were trying to cut a mere $200,000 by doing this? Aren't they the wealthiest franchise in the league?

This is more due to the CBA rules on contracts than the cap itself. If there were a four year limit on contracts you'd see a much bigger free agency frenzy. It's these career long contracts that have killed the offseason excitement and led to stagnant teams.

The loyalty thing doesn't make sense to me. Why not just pay him to work in the front office? Then he has stability, no risk of injury, etc. Make him work for his pay at least.

Ferraro is easily replaceable. Why bother getting upset over losing a fourth liner who hasn't really impressed all that much? His ceiling is pretty much a decent fourth liner. They're worthless in trades. If we can't keep them, who cares if Babcock takes them for free? They won't help him significantly and it won't hurt us at all to lose them. If anyone gets traded I'm betting it's Ericsson. I don't know if he has a NTC (probably does, Holland was handing those out like candy a few years back), but he just doesn't quite fit. He's the only one with any snarl, but that's about all he brings that other players don't. Pretty much any way you pair up the defensemen, he's the odd man out. Just doesn't really pair up with anyone but Kronwall all that well, and even then there are better options.

I think Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Abdelkader is what we will see for our first line. The second is where all the possibilities are.

I'm not thrilled about pairing him with DeKeyser. Quincey and DD played well together. I'd rather Smith go with Kron and E go with Green, but I think Green has to go with someone more responsible than E. Tough choice and it shows how our corps is still unbalanced a bit.

I haven't heard good things about Green from any Caps fans, or anyone other than Wings fans, for years. Remember how pumped Toronto was when they signed Lebda? I think maybe we're on the wrong side of that now. Except Green is a veteran and Myers is still technically an impressionable young player.

The panel pretty much has to say things like that. Consensus among Washington fans is he's a dumpster fire, too. Basically, imagine someone a little worse defensively than Smith, but paid that much more. Green could either work for us or completely blow up in our face. I mean, his sole ability is to get points, and he was pushed down the roster to the third pairing and off of the first power play unit with Washington because he stopped producing points. He might do well here, but only relative to the massive weaknesses of our defensive core. Which kind of shows us how far we are from a Cup.

The Richards signing kind of confuses me. I'm not sure what he brings to the table that we don't already have. I guess he is center depth but we already have so many third-line caliber centers. We already had veteran presence but I guess they felt we needed a bit more.

I agree with you guys. For a cheap price and a short term, why not? Franzen is likely out, and while Franzen is more physical, it couldn't hurt to have a guy who can snipe and pot some goals replace him. We've got hard working guys, but we do need some additional offense and he could provide that.

Saad is reportedly only asking for $4 million and Chicago is hesitant. Offer sheet him $5 and watch the Hawks squirm. What's that, two second round picks? Worth it.

Rumor has it Brandon Saad might be further apart on a deal with the Blackhawks than previously thought. I think he'd be worth an offer sheet., he's an RFA, I believe. Anyone else agree? Oduya is also going to test free agency, but I don't think he's worth anything, really.

There are a few rumors flying around. I'll wait and see, but it must be pretty bad if the team went to this particular length to get rid of him.

I won't complain too hard if we roll with the kids because the UFA market sucks, but I won't expect much from us going another year without being able to address our weaknesses.

So is the general consensus that this kid is the only pick this year to really get excited about? The others seem okay but nothing special. Could work out but no special reason to think they will, sort of thing?

Except that Hamilton was a young star. Boston's management is insane.

Are there any steals in the goalie department? We'll need someone in the pipeline and I don't think any of our prospects in that department are expected to do much. It'd be cool to see Paterson eventually make it though, since Saginaw was my local team.

We should take a goalie. We need to replace Mrazek and goalies take years to develop. I'm not sure anyone we have currently will be more than a backup. Maybe not first round, but we absolutely should take a goalie in the middle rounds.

If we acquire a top pairing defenseman, I just don't see where Ericsson fits, either. One of the kids will have a roster spot (Marchenko, most likely), maybe two. Smith will definitely have to go, and Ericsson could be decent trade bait as well.

Why no official title for Chelios, though? Everyone else had a title listed, but Chelios will just "work with" the defense? Why not just name him a defensive coach?

I thought it was the opposite. A few months ago someone asked him and he said he's enjoying Sweden too much to come back.

Khan says Wings are no longer interested in Phaneuf. I'm betting Babcock nixed any deal, like most of us believed he would.

Whether or not trading for Thornton would be a mistake depends on what we give up to get him, of course. But his age and contract doesn't worry me too much. I'm sure he's got at least one good season left in him, so the biggest risk is that we wind up with him for one year where he doesn't live up to his value. But I think odds are good he stays good for two years anyway, so to me that's a risk I'm willing to take. The thing with Thornton is that he gives us that bonafide second line center we've been needing for years. I think we're fairly close to competing for a Cup, so that two year window would be huge. I'm also fairly certain the UFA market will be better in two years, so replacing him won't be impossible if he were to retire. Imagine Thornton (the assist king) feeding Nyquist or Tatar or Zetterberg. He's the kind of veteran we need to jump start our offense a bit. And, again depending on who we give up to get him, we might have an extra trade piece to get that defenseman we so desperately need.

Because the players rumored to be in the package for Phaneuf are not favorites of Babcock. He benched Weiss most of the time, and while he continuously gave Smith chances, Smith was also one of the few players Babcock would call out for being...well...stupid. Rebuild or no, why would they dump one of their best defensemen for a bunch of guys Babcock won't play? You better believe he'll have a say in who they acquire, and he won't be doing the Wings any favors.

Lecavalier is worse than Weiss at this point. Weiss can still rebound. Lecavalier is done. Babcock will never let this happen. His going there has basically killed any chance of getting Phaneuf. I know he's not a defenseman, but if the Sharks are shopping Thornton I'd definitely inquire about what it would take to get him. He'd really solidify us up front, where we still need a little work, even if it's not the number one priority.